Tip Tuesday: Why Your Designer and Developer May Be One-and-the-Same

- May 02, 2017

Today’s websites are very different from websites created 10 years ago. As the webs becomes more crowded and competitive, creativity is becoming just as important to conversions as functionality and user experience are.

As digital trends change and morph into emerging strategies, so too do the businesses at the forefront of those trends. Business and design trends are both governed by a measure of Darwinism. The things we design enter into a feedback loop where efficiency and effectiveness decide what stays and what goes. What works, stays, and what doesn’t will be replaced with something better, until that too is replaced.

This same process is being applied to web designers and web developers as individuals. The divide between web developers and designers has been shrinking, because it doesn’t matter if you can make a design that looks great if you aren’t also thinking like a developer.

The focus of a web developer is generally to provide a seamless user experience, but it can be easy to leave out the elements that make it an experience users want to engage with.

As a result, this same vetting process also applies to web developers, because functionality and form through design belong together when you’re in the business of providing optimal online experiences.

Creating a successful website boils down to applying intelligent direction of users’ attention in a design that still looks beautiful. If a site can be visually arresting without obfuscating the interface, so much so the better.

In many ways, this is a balancing act, and understanding the fundamentals of both philosophies is essential to building a site that can thrive in a marketing environment. What used to be two very disparate and specialized roles (performed by two different people) has gradually blurred into a hybrid of both experiences.

Businesses that are trying to be competitive need a strong online presence, which is why having a development team that is skilled in both design and development is essential, even if that turns out to only one person!

We at Commexis pride ourselves on our ability to be versatile and work with your individual needs to create an online presence for your business that you can use as an asset.

Adam Weaver is a designer and developer for Commexis. He is fascinated by the intersection of art and creativity.